A Comparison of Demographics Across the Burn, Spinal Cord Injury, and Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to analyze the demographic profiles of participants in the traumatic brain injury (TBI), burn injury (BI), and spinal cord injury (SCI) Model Systems Databases. DESIGN: Data from the Burn Model System (BMS) National Database, TBI Model Systems (TBIMS) National Database, and SCI Model System (SCIMS) Database was analyzed from 1994 to 2020. SETTING: Not applicable PARTICIPANTS: The study included 16 years and older participants with available data in selected variables, totaling 4,807 BI, 19,127 TBI, and 18,473 SCI participants. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Variables including age, race, ethnicity, sex, education level, primary payor source, family income level, employment status at one-year post-injury, etiology, and mortality at one-year post-injury were analyzed across the database. RESULTS: Median ages at injury for BMS (40.4), TBIMS (40), and SCIMS (38) Database participants were comparable. Males constituted about 75% of participants in BMS, TBIMS, and SCIMS datasets, with approximately 75% having a high school education or lower. The proportion of participants funded by Medicare during initial hospital care varied across the BMS (14%), TBIMS (15.6%), and SCIMS (10.2%). For family income (data available for BMS and SCIMS), roughly 30% of these participants reported a family income below $25,000. Etiology data indicated 49.0% of TBI and 40.7% of SCI cases resulted from vehicular incidents. CONCLUSIONS: An overlapping at-risk population for these injuries appears to be middle-aged males with lower education levels and family incomes, who have access to vehicles. This underscores the need for preventive initiatives tailored to this identified population to mitigate the risk of these injuries.